Foot deformities, such as "toe in" or "toe out", are generally corrected in infancy and childhood by having the child wear a special shoe with a foot clamp fastened to the shoe so as to force a turning of the child's foot. Usually, such shoes are worn by the child during rest periods, such as during sleeping hours, and due to the turning action provided over an extended period of time the child's bones tend to return to a normal straightened position. Another commonly used technique for correcting the type of foot deformities mentioned is to have wedges placed on the shoe in a manner to roll the ankle in an attempt to rotate to the foot. These shoes are generally worn by the child during the active times of the day, such as when walking or running.
Heretofore, a number of orthopedic shoe appliances have been developed to provide more effective and gentle correction of foot deformities. Examples of such elements are found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,470,879 to T. J. Meiller and U.S. Pat. No. 3,532,098 to Charles A. Rodenburger. In the first mentioned U.S. patent, the shoe element, either a heel or sole, or both, is provided with a plurality of resilient, parallel, spaced ribs arranged at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the element and canted towards one end of the axis. In the latter mentioned patent, the element, usually attached to the heel of the shoe, has a plurality of resilient projections extending from one side and disposed in pairs, one on each of the opposite sides of a central point of the element. The projections are formed at an acute angle with respect to the supporting side with the projections on one side of the central point being slanted in a direction opposite to the direction of those on the other side of the central point.